Sunday, December 20, 2009

It brought so much joy to my heart to see John and Patricia get married! John is such a good guy. I admire his discipline and commitment to God. He is a strong Christian. He does everything with passion. He is most definitely, hands down, voted the hottest McNeilus Language School teacher of 2006! Patricia you got a good one, John searched the world for you.

After the reception dinner, in good company, we started a game of Risk at Amanda’s house. I can admit this now; it was the most humiliating game I have ever played. I was the first one out of the game, which never happens. We were even playing with two people that had never played before! Rheu was defiant in making sure I was the first kill of the game.

At two in the morning John called with a heavy burden on his heart, he had forgotten his passport at Andrews. Turk, Rheu, and I agreed to drive to Chicago that night to deliver his passport.We went to John’s house. Pounding on the door Gestapo style, an unfamiliar face finally answered. This was John’s rent paying replacement. We stormed the house, looking for a pink duffle bag. This led us to John’s old bedroom, where one of his roommates lay in slumber. Relentlessly we turned the lights on. We quickly spotted the infamous pink duffle bag. Searching the bag, I quickly found his passport.

In Chicago we found John’s hotel. John was eternally grateful, he even offered us money. We didn’t accept it, he is our friend and that is what friends do when one is in need.

I was determined to save money. I suggested that we sleep in the car. Turk and Rheu didn’t like the idea. In rebellion Turk said “what are we going to do, when you get cold?”

We found a Motel 6. Bullet-proof glass protected the woman behind the desk. We quickly settled into our suite. Matt’s comment on our new accommodations was, “I wonder how many women have been impregnated in this bed?”

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Today at 3:30pm I boarded my plane for home. I restarted my Thursday again in Los Angels at 8:30am, when my plane landed. I feel like I am in the movie Ground Hogs Day.

In LA I had to go through security again. This time it was even more idiotic! One of the TSA agents screamed Code Bravo; everyone was forced to stop what they were going.We stood still, except for this guy from Africa. But don’t worry TSA did their job, they pounced on him. Poor guy was just trying to put his shoes back on. We stood there for five more minutes doing nothing. It was like we were in a fire drill. And then just as suddenly as it started, it ended. It was like nothing happened. We just continued through the line. I didn’t see any terrorist.

In the airport, I was bombard with hostile voice mails from friends. Friends that had forgotten I was in Australia.

Tonight I will be home in Lincoln, only to get in my car to continue this great adventure in Michigan.

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Today we had Chappo’s Bucks Party. A buck’s party is similar to a bachelor party. However, I would discover it is a lot more humiliating for the groom than it usually is in America.

The evening started out nice. All of Chappo’s mates took him go-carting. We had a barbeque, all pretty normal things. But after that it gets crazy! Some of the guys brought mesh panty hoses, a tight pink belly shirt, and some very low cut shorts. Chappo was then forced to put these clothes on. There wasn’t really a battle either. He just accepted his faith. He even put them on in the women’s bathroom.

At Chappo’s house later that night, they blindfolded Chappo with toilet paper and duck tape. We then sat in his living room for 30 minutes, while all most of the guys teased him. I won’t go into detail. The poor guy just took it, I guess this is all pretty normal in Australia.

The guys then took Chappo outside. They sat him in a chair and we waited. We waited for a car to roll up into the front yard. The radio was blaring strip tease music. While two girls jumped out of the car. The women then started dancing while wrapping Chappo with ropes and chains to his chair.

The girls then took the garden hose and started spraying him. In the process someone took the blindfold off. Chappo’s mates then threw flour in his face.

It doesn’t stop there. I guess everyone felt bad about getting him so dirty. To make it up to him, all of the guy grabbed him and proceeded to through him off the rope bridge.

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Today is real vacation! We slept in and spent most of the day on the beach. We did nothing. It was beautiful. The ocean is so big. Looking into the horizon there is nothing but water and sky; to think that America is just on the other side. I can’t wrap my mind around it. God is big, really big and we are really small.

Throughout the day helicopters would fly over the beach with water bombs. We didn’t think much of it. I guess that bush fires happen a lot around here. It is summer and the trees are really dry.

At 11:00 pm, Danielle’s mother came rushing into our room! She said that we need to get all of our things together and leave right away. Apparently if we didn’t, we would risk being cornered by the bush fires, making it impossible to make our flight in Brisbane the next morning. Taking her advice we fled Cabarita beach. Danielle’s mother dropped us off at a near by town, where we had to hire a cab to the train station. We then took the train to Brisbane but it was too late to take the train all the way to the airport so we had to get another cab. It was a very expensive evacuation. By the time we arrived at the airport it was 1:00am. We found a quite corner to rest in, only to be disturbed by a man on a riding vacuum. It was really annoying. He didn’t stop for like 30 minutes. He drove the vacuum like someone on a riding lawn mower.

Monday, December 7, 2009

Waking up south of Brisbane, the sunlight was shining through trees, as the train continued to race through Queensland. Lance had made fast friends the night before with some American girls that were heading north to Cairns. So when we got to Roma Station, Lance asked the girls if they would like to go to the park with us. They agreed we spent the rest of the early morning with them.

Lance and I departed later that morning to Tangalooma on Morton Island. The island happens to be the second largest sand island in the world .The locals had really built it up so we had high expectations. Tangalooma is super expensive! The main attraction is a ship wreck. Lance and I snorkeled around the wreckage. While taking a break on one of the wrecked ships, Lance heard some kid yell for help. Wanting to save the day, Lance was prepared to jump over board; fortunately the kid wasn’t for real. I am really glad that we didn’t stay longer because it cost so much money just to be. That evening we caught the ferry back to the mainland.

Back in Brizzie, we still had to figure out how we were going to get down to the Gold Coast for the evening. While in transit from the ferry to the train station, we discovered that the tour bus was going to be making a trip to Surfers Paradise. We made the arrangements and we were on our way. The guy driving the bus even took us on a mini tour of Brisbane.

Surfers Paradise was much more then I expected. It is actually a fairly large metropolitan area; I had pictured it as a quite coastal town. Lance insisted that we eat at the Hard Rock Café. Danielle met us there with Josh.

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Today, I could have taken some advice from the Australian novelist, Clive James, “Stop worrying. Nobody gets out of this world alive.”Things don’t always go the way you plan them. This morning we were suppose to go to the Hillsong Church in Sydney. This didn’t work out, so we slept in, making us late to our alternative, Avondale Graduation. After graduation we were suppose to catch a train to Brisbane. This would be pretty easy under normal circumstances. We still had to figure out when the train departed and where it departed from. Internet is kind of hard to come by here at Avondale. We went to Katie Page’s house to use hers, interrupting her graduation party. After getting all the necessary information, we then delayed Chappo from getting to his graduation party because he had to drop us off at the train station. As a result Lance was bad company and nobody likes bad company. He felt bad about troubling all of his Australian friends. This whole experience was an inconvenience for everyone! Never the less we pushed on. We caught the CountryLink train in Newcastle for our over night journey to Brizzie.

Saturday, December 5, 2009

Happy Sabbath! Last Sabbath I was at Union College, today I am at Avondale College, and next Sabbath I will be at Andrews University. I love God’s Church! It is so amazing that I can go anywhere in the world and worship with God’s people. Our Church family is united.

After church we had lunch at Chappo’s. We had Haystacks. The company was great; it is graduation weekend, so he had invited heaps of people over.Today I had high hopes of spending some time at Sunny Side, Ellen White’s house in Australia. Lance had told me that Mrs. White had written the Great Controversy while in Australia, so I thought that it would be really cool to spend Sabbath reading it at her house.

Arriving at Sunny Side, I discovered that it was closed and that Ellen White hadn’t written the Great Controversy here! She had written the Desire of Ages while in Australia. A little frazzled, I thought about breaking into Ellen White’s house. Realizing how irrational that would be, I quickly throw that idea away. My company was in a hurry and wasn’t interested in spending the afternoon reading the Great Controversy. This jeopardized my plans completely.

Friday, December 4, 2009

Waking up at 4:45am, Lance and I rushed to the airport. Tiger Airlines, Australia’s budget airline, would be our carrier to Sydney. When we told our friends in Melbourne that we were flying with Tiger, they laughed at us because apparently Tiger is not the greatest. On board we discovered what they were talking about. The seats are so tight that when ever the person sitting in front of you moves, you can feel it in your keens and then when the person behind you moves you can feel it as well. There is no where to move your body if you are uncomfortable. Tiger should make a guarantee that if you are not completely uncomfortable for the entire flight they will refund your money.

Usually when I travel, I ended up wearing the same clothes a few days in a row. I don’t ever plan it to be this way. I usually pack enough clothing. Today was different however, instead of wearing the exact same clothing I wore the day before, I mixed it up. Israel has always told me that commando was the way to go, if you truly want to be free. I truly do want to be free. And since I had failed to calculate the correct underwear to days ratio, today, was the day to be completely free!

Sydney was another big touring day! Since Lance had been to Sydney before, he already knew all of the good places to visit. We went to the Opera House, saw the Harbor Bridge, listened to some musicians in Hyde Park, walked through downtown, and even toured a submarine at Dawes Point. The day was really good.

Wanting to make it to Avondale for Vespers we boarded the train. When we got to Morisset, the closest station to Avondale, we didn’t have a ride. Thankfully near the station, we stubble into some people that go to Avondale, that were willing to give us a ride.

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Today we were big tourist. We soaked up Melbourne’s appeal, by walking around the city, seeing the major attractions, Federation Square, the Royal Botanic Gardens, St. Paul’s Cathedral, and the Shrine of Remembrance. After doing all of this I was ravished!

Back at Danielle’s posh apartment, Lance and I relaxed. Danielle had people over. We watched a movie, ate dinner, and indulged in some poplova, an Australian dessert. We stayed up late enjoying the company.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Starting the morning out right Lance and I had our first showers in several days and ate Fruity Bix, which is Australia's most famous cereal and just happens to be made by Adventist.

We boarded the train to Sydney that morning, where we were greeted by twin Australian shelis, there mother, and a kiwi bloke. The conversation was very entertaining. The kiwi continued to bring up random things like, when I was in the kiwi army… Lance gave everyone the dirty on The Cause, while the twins listened intensely. And the mother filled us in on all the details ofMelbourne.

The day was filled with deals! At the Airport in Sydney we got discounted metro tickets. At Krispy Kream, I got two donuts and a milk shake for $7.50. While eating at an Asian restaurant, I got three dollars off. And to top it off in Melbourne we ran out of money for dinner, the man at the counter kindly took all of our money and called it fair, which was at least an 80 cent savings!

When we arrived in Melbourne the city was filled with excitement. There were street performers, high rise office buildings, and big name clothing designers. The city would fit perfectly into any European country. There are trams in the narrow streets, pastry shops, and street cafés. Everyone seemed to be dressed up, men were wearing suits and ties, while the women looked very sophisticated in their slacks and refined dresses.

At David Jones, a clothing store, Lance and I met up with Danielle, another one of Lance’s old friends from Avondale. From the very beginning Lance described her as very sophisticated, like the city she lives in. In her black elegant work attire, to her high rise apartment, she was just as Lance had said. Shortly after arriving we took the tram to her home to get ready for a night on the famous Chapel Street.

Chapel Street was booming with life. Walking down to the end of Chapel Street we stumbled into a 1930’s movie theater called the Astro, with its Art Deco it reminded me of grandeur times.From there we made our way to the beach. A little too late to watch the sunset, we still had a good time taking photos in front of the beach huts.

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Through out the night our flight chased after the sun. Skipping over Monday completely, at about 6:00am on Tuesday we finally reached day light. Three hours later we finally landed in Sydney, Australia.

At the airport, Lance and I were faced with bewilderment. We had no idea were to go and we needed to make some fast plane reservations for our trips to Melbourne and the Great Barrier Reef.

We made our way to the Virgin Blue ticket booth. There we gave the women behind the desk our destination and dates. As she searched prices, we asked her if her airline was going to be the cheapest airline in Australia. To our surprise she said “Well, we are kind of popular, we are like second to Qantas.” A little confused I replied, “So you are saying you’re not the cheapest?” She reassured me that her

company wasn’t the cheapest and if we paid $5 we could get a ride to the main concourse and book tickets there for less on another airline. Deciding to face defeat under the pressure, we hoped that we would have better luck on the internet.

We boarded a train to Morisset, the closest town to Avondale.

In Morisset, we flagged a taxi for the final stretch of our journey. The taxi driver asked us if we wanted to take the long way or the short way to Avondale. Thinking that was a stupid question we said the short way, of course, why would we pay more to take the long way? After the driver dropped us off, it became clear, as to why someone might want to take the longer journey. To reach the school, we had to go down this narrow trail, drag our luggage across rockyterrain, and then cross a rope bridge to reach the campus.

At Avondale we met up with Chappo, Lance’s long time Australian friend. He took us to eat Kabobs and then we picked up some bread to feed to the kangaroos at a near by park. I had some ambitions of possibly boxing a kangaroo but after seeing how big their claws were, I decided that it probably wasn’t the best idea.

It is now Tuesday evening and our Australian friends are working on making us “tea” in the kitchen, I recollect that I haven’t had a shower since Sunday morning. Now, I know there is a time change in there somewhere and I don’t really know what meal this is but I am thankful for the people in the kitchen making dinner and I am sure no matter how long it’s been it is time for a shower.

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Every time I drive to the airport I am filled with anxiety. Three out of the last four trips I have taken friends to the airport they have missed their flights. You never know if you will make it in time when driving from Lincoln to Omaha. Allison missed her flight completely last time, Lance has missed his flight the last two times, so as you can see the odds are not in your favor. I made it in the nick of time only to discover that my flight had been delayed 30 minutes.

After going through the TSA security check point, I was in quite a bad mood! This next statement might get me red flagged, but I do not care, I think TSA is the dumb! They make you think that you are safe but really you are not any safer, just inconvenienced! I hate taking my shoes off; who do they think I am Maxell Smart? Its not like I have a bomb in my shoe, I don’t even think it is a real threat. If someone tried to highjack a plane post 911, the passengers would just kill them, we don’t need TSA. TSA is just another way the US government waste our tax dollars and invades our privacy!

When I arrived in San Francisco, Lance met me at the gate, to my relief. By this time I had calmed down. Lance had the great idea to rent a car for the next five hours so we drove down to the bay area. It was really a lot of fun. Lance almost drove down a flight of stairs. We went to Tartine’s bakery and café. I spent $20 on pastries but I didn’t even care, the pastries were so good! We visited the Golden Gate Bridge, did a little exploring around the old military batteries, traveled down to the pier, and even found some time to eat at In-n-Out.

The day should be ending right now, it is 12:00AM in Lincoln and 10:00PM in California but our journey is only starting.

Monday, November 23, 2009

Every product at Home Depot has a season. Toilet plungers and sewer snakes are now in season! In fact they will be in season until the start of the New Year. I can’t honestly say that I have seen an increase in sales for these products. But I will say that last week someone pooped their pants and then abandoned their underwear in the men’s bathroom.

Friday, November 13, 2009

I had never had a Molotov cocktail before. So when I had to opportunity to mix up one of those dangerous drinks, I was filled with excitement and anticipation! Later when I would tell a friend at work about this experience, he asked me if the drink had a kick? My response to his question was its explosive!

A Molotov cocktail isn’t what it sounds like; it most certainly isn’t a drink as my friend at work would later learn. You might have seen these cocktails used in the movies. Nazis, Communist, Fascist, and other extremist like to use this very affordable tool to reek havoc on innocent civilians. Rather then continue to go into detail I would prefer simply just to show you.

We are probably the worst arsonist ever! It took us three tries before we had a successful explosion.

Friday, November 6, 2009

“Hey what are you doing?” What does it look like? I am trying to hide inconspicuous behind your apple mansion. Lucky the Apple Jack King hadn’t detected me so obviously he couldn’t be talking to me. Puzzled I looked around to see who he could be talking to. I didn’t have to look far, there was my shameful friend Luke Beazley urinating on his fence. Luke’s reply was um… peeing? The Apple Jack quickly replied with “I know exactly what you are doing!” Apparently he had the impression that Luke was doing something much more then just going to the bathroom. Irritated and fuming the Apple Jacks next move was to call the police, very irrational for the situation I thought but at least it was setting the stage for a better story.

Sardines was the name of the game (it is hide and go seek only backwards, one person hides while everyone else searches for the person hiding, when they find them they too must hide with them). The Nebraska City Apple Orchard was the arena. And the Apple Jack King was the caretaker. At the orchard there is a historic mansion which is part of the park, this is where the Apple Jack King lives. There is no trespassing involved or really any criminal activity; everything was fairly legitimate with the exception of the apple war which we had earlier in the day.

As the story goes, wanting to smoothing things over, Luke went up to the caretaker’s door to try to explain himself and apologize. Unfortunately this really wasn’t going anywhere. Hiding around the corner I listened as the Apple Jack King told Luke that he really didn’t care and that he could explain it to the police when they got there.

It was time to flee, the police wouldn’t be there for a few more minutes and plus it is not like we were running from the police, they hadn’t got there yet. By this time, almost everyone involved in the game was aware of the situation that is with the exception of the person hiding. No one could find her so we couldn’t just leave.

Finally we found Claudia. We split into two groups; those that would go get the cars and those that we would meet up with us at another park down the street. It was ironic; the police cruiser drove by on the main road and then groups of us jumped out of the bushes to go our separate ways.

Safely in the car, I drove down to the park to pick up the others. I found them on the road halfway there, for a moment I slowed down to pick them up only to accelerate as the police cruiser pulled out of the park entrance.My friends were goners. The police pull them over. I quickly fled the scene. There were two other cars so we designated a meeting spot and waited it out. There was really no reason to worry, its not like we were really guiltily of anything. Never the less some did worry as we waited for a phone call from those that were now in the custody of the police.

Twenty minutes later we got the expected call. The police just asked them if any of them were guilty of the crime. Luke confessed. The police looked at their Id’s. They suggested not urinating in public places in the future and that was it.

Saturday, October 24, 2009

This last month at Home Depot, I have had alot of ups and downs, many days I have found myself wishing that they would just fire me! It feels like many of the people at work, like to shift the responsibility of their own actions on to others and then strive for more power and responsibility. People ask me, how my people work at Home Depot? And I will say about half of them.

One day while facing the cleaning aisle, it hit me; I AM NOT LIVING MY LIFE! I don’t do what I want on most days. I am not free. There are many things that I want to do but have been too afraid to ask for.

I decided that it was time for me to take a stand and if they were not willing to accommodate my request, then I would quit!

That night I made my list.

I want to go to John Clark’s Wedding at Andrews UniversityI want to go to Australia in NovemberI want to go to GYC in Louisville, KY

It’s a pretty big list, especially since all the events take place in a two month period. But I had to make it big, if it was going to be worth quitting for. Plus it had to be big enough to face resistance from management. That next morning I presented my request to the store manager. Surprisingly, my boss agreed to my entire request! There was no compromising or even coaxing required.

The story doesn’t end there; two weeks ago I also go promoted. I am now the Associate Coordinator, which is a pretty legitimate job, a job that would be appropriate for someone with a college education. I handle all of the stores human resource stuff as well as make the employees work schedule. This is a very nice perk because I now have control over my own schedule.

Friday, October 2, 2009

If you could do anything for Christ and success would be guaranteed, what would you do?

Now is the time to act! We are living in the last days of earth’s history, detrimental times for those who do not know Christ. It is time to stand up. It is time that we make Christ first, last, and everything in our lives. We are being called to extreme purity, now, today is the day to throw out all of those things that have been getting in between us and God. Our silence is consent and we can no long afford to be quiet. It is time to let there be indifference and even war, for that is what we are already in.

“Enemy-occupied territory-that is what this world is, Christianity is the story of how the rightful king has landed, you might say landed in disguise, and is calling us to take part in a great campaign of sabotage.”

C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, Page 46

We must make the bold choice to serve God or face the shocking alternative, eternal separation from Christ. The latter choice is much easier to make especially if we continue to remain lukewarm. We can’t keep riding the line. It is time to burn some bridges. We can not remind neutral. We must be courageous and follow Christ faithfully.

For such a time as this, God is calling us to serve Him with everything that we are.

I don’t have a plan but God does, which is much better then anything I could ever scheme up. I want to be in a committed relationship with our Creator. I don’t know what to do yet, but I am praying about. We all have a great work to do in these last days. What will you do? Please join me in this great campaign of sabotage.

Sunday, September 20, 2009

"A man will gain power and efficiency as he accepts the responsibilities that God places upon him, and with his whole soul seeks to qualify himself to bear them aright. However humble his position or limited his ability, that man will attain true greatness who, trusting to Divine strenght, seeks to perform his work with fidelity... The fact that a man feels his weakness is at least some evidence that he realizes the magnitude of the work appointed him, and that he will make God his counselor and his strenght."

Patriarchs & Prophets, Page 154

"They (the early Church) dare not tolerate errors fatal to their own souls, and set an example which would imperil the faith of their children. To secure peace and unity they were ready to make any concession consistent with fidelity to God; but they felt that even peace would be too darely purchased at the sacrifice of principle. If unity could be secured only by compromising truth and righteousness, then let there be difference, and even war."

The Great Controversy, Page 45

"Our business in this world is to see what virtues we can teach our children and our families to posses, that they shall have an influence upon other families, and thus we can be an educating power although we never enter into the desk. A well-ordered, a well-disciplined family in the sight of God is more precious then fine gold."

Adventist Home, Page 32

"The value of a soul, who can know its worth, go to Gethsemane, and there watch with Christ through those hours of anguish, when He sweat as it were great drops of blood. Look upon the Savior uplifted on the cross. Hear that despairing cry, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken Me?" Look upon the wounded head, the pierced side, the marred feet. Remember that Christ risked all for our redemption, heaven itself was imperiled. At the foot of the cross, remembering that for one sinner Christ would have laid down His life, you may estimate the value of a soul."

Friday, August 14, 2009

Stewardship,it is what we do with our blessings.God has entrusted us with resources and possessions, time and opportunities, abilities and influence. None of these things belong to us, they all belong to God. “By Him were all things created… whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him, and for Him.” Colossians 1:16. By acknowledging God’s ownership, we will care for the things God has entrusted us and use them to further His Kingdom.

Sunday, August 9, 2009

I bought a house, 3242 N 52 Street! I am really excited about it. My Dad and I are going to flip it, so in 90 days hopefully I will no longer be a home owner.

The house is a 1930’s bungalow with four bedrooms and three bathrooms, all of which need restoring. The house is on a corner lot so there is lots of room in the back yard. There is a small detected garage, which is currently falling apart. The basement flooded this winter so there was mold on the walls but we have taken care of that. And when we removed the carpet, which smelled like pet fesis, we discovered beautiful wood floors. The house is located in an area called University Place, which is a pretty good neighborhood. It is kind of like College View, it is positioned near Nebraska Wesleyan University.

The day that we were supposed to go into contract on the house was crazy! At the time we had been working with this bank in Washington State, Flagstar Bank. Flagstar was one of a dozen banks that offered a special home renovation loan, so we were forced to work with them. These guys were making us jump through all of the hoops; they wanted to audit my father and me. They wanted to take there time in deciding if they really wanted to give us a loan. They played games with us. They charged unreasonable fees to use their “services”. After going through all of this, I really doubted that I would be able to get a loan; these guys were professional self-esteem lowers.

On the day we were to go into contract, Flagstar still could not deliver in a timely fashion; they said that it would take at least another 45 days before we would be able to seal the deal. I told my realtor this, she then conveyed the message to the listing realtor who was fanatical about it! My realtor assured me that we could simply submit another bid for the home after we were able to get our financing in line. At the time it appeared that the deal was going to fall though, nothing was working out.There was nothing I could do. I had no control. I got on my knees and prayed. I prayed for God’s will, for guidance, and strength to accept His will. When I was done praying, my realtor called. She told me to call this lady, Angie, that she might be able to help me. I wasted on time and before the morning was over I was sitting in her office with my father. We told her what we were trying to do. She looked at my credit score. And she approved me for a loan, all in 20 minutes. Praise the Lord! I didn’t even have to have my father co-sign, the process was too easy. There are so many small details that were taken care of. We got a lower rate, a better kind of loan, one that I wasn’t even aware existed, and we could deal with a local bank. Everything came together that day, things are always better with the Lord!

Friday, July 31, 2009

Christ risked everything for our Salvation. He would have died for just one of us. He created us a little lower then the angels. We are made in His image and priceless in His sight. Our true value is established through Christ sacrifice for us. This is where our true identities are found. If Christ values us this much, we too should place the same amount of value on our fellow man. “We are all woven together in the great web of humanity, and whatever we can do to benefit and uplift others will reflect in blessing upon ourselves.”-Patriarchs and Prophets, pg. 346.

Thursday, July 30, 2009

If you’re hip, you zip because zip is hip! I have been in the college of zip lining for quit sometime now. I would dare to call myself an expert, but considering the “incident” that happened two weeks ago, it might be questionable now.

Two Sabbaths ago, we reached what at the time; I would have considered the zenith of zip lining technology. All of the elements of a great zip line were in place water, danger, extreme heights, reliable equipment, and of course a knowledgeable group of advisors.

As the afternoon progressed and the fear of the zip line decreased more and more people started to go; some people even dared to double up, going together. By this time the zip line appeared to have been tamed and domesticated, everyone was going.

For the last run of the day, Lance and I decided to double up and launch our bodies off the bridge that is of course using the zip line. Unfortunately for us, the zip line didn’t prove to be as faithful as we first believed!

Falling through the air like a cartoon charter, I could only think to myself this is probably it, what a stupid way to die! The bridge is at least 50 feet off the ground and below the bridge there is an array of rocks, metal wreckage, and tree branches to greet any unexpecting visitor. As my feet hit the water, I thought to myself, it will only be a second now and my feet will be crushed. Entering the water my feet bent like an accordion absorbing the impact. My head went under water for a moment. Emerging from the water I started to scream! And then Lance joined me in screaming. My left foot hurt so terribly bad.

Thankfully the Lord had been looking out for us, instead of falling the full 50 feet, we only had to deal with about a 30 foot descent, since the zip line didn’t drop us instantly. And on top of that, we landed in two feet of water, which doesn’t seem like much but I am fairly confident that it helped.

Under Philip Stokes recommendation, I went to an urgent care center, which was followed up by a visit to my family physician and two visits to the wound care center. Despite the more desirable landing my doctor tells me that it is a miracle that I only had to lose all of the skin on my heel. I think that it is truly amazing that Lance and I only suffered minor injuries, I know that it more then luck.

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Oh, Omaha! Every time I go there adventure finds me! Weather I am with the Beazley’s, Matt Turk, 0r Janna. It is always a good time, when you have friends in Omaha. There is continually something to stumble into... fashion shows, abandoned buildings, museums, the theater… There is a puppy shop, which is more like a warehouse, and then there is the world’s largest swing bridge, which is always open to exploration. Then there are the slides, Old Market, and the river walk. And when Rheu is with me, we go to the botanical gardens and take pictures of flowers. There is the zoo, Union Station, and the grounded World War II submarine. Hallock is always a fit volunteer when it comes to exploring. I like to eat at Zio’s Pizza, sometimes. I always feel greasy after eating there.There are free art galleries, street musicians, and homeless people. Omaha comes to life, when you are there with great friends. And at the end of the night if you happen to be a single lady, Lance Mishleau might just buy you an ice cream cone.

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Happy Birthday Sadie! On this very day last year, Allison and I found ourselves in a vicious fight for our sister’s dignity. At Yorktown Bay they like to throw people into the lake on their birthday. Al and I didn’t take a liking to this, since two of the guys throwing Sadie in were very suspicious characters and a number of the other guys turned out to be fairly questionable as well. So since it is Sadie’s Birthday, I would like to reminisce on the brutal and horrific battle of York Town Bay.

Friday, June 26, 2009

There is a God, a loving one at that.As humans we find ourselves under a moral law which we didn’t make for ourselves and we cannot quite forget, even when we try. Just as our bodies are governed by the law of gravitation and organisms by biological laws, we humans are also governed by a moral law however unlike the law of gravitation, we have the choice to obey this moral law or to disobey it. There must be a power behind this moral law, a God. By examining the moral law we can discover the character of the one who created it. This moral law promotes us to feel that we ought to help those in need, to be honest, to stand up for justice, to be fair, to respect life, and honor our fellowman. These moral laws are written on our hearts. All of humanity recognizes these standards of what is right and wrong. Sadly, as a result of sin those who refuse to acknowledge these standards can eventually become desensitized and no longer see the difference between right and wrong. You can be good for the mere sake of being good: you cannot be bad for the mere sake of being bad. All the things that enable a man to be bad are in themselves good. God is a loving God because he sets goodness and love in our hearts.

About Me

I am a rugged individual. I can grow a beard in a week, file my own taxes, and operate a demo saw. I am a rugged individual but I desire to be more then just a rugged individual, I desire to be servant of God. I want to be lead by his commandments and teachings. I want to have integrity in my personal and public life. I want to be committed to marriage, family, and the community i live in. I want to be a man, a rugged man, that will stand for the right though the heavens fall.

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” Mark Twain